Dec201327

Staff

PRO BOWL KICKS OFF SUPER BOWL WEEK IN PRIMETIME ON NBC ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 26

The 2014 Pro Bowl, featuring a significantly revised format, will be played on Sunday, January 26, 2014 and televised live on NBC at 7:00 PM ET from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

For the first time, the Pro Bowl will be “unconferenced.” Gone is the familiar AFC vs. NFC match-up that has existed since 1971. Instead, players were selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players.

The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers placed a league-best eight players each in the Pro Bowl, which will be held prior to the Super Bowl for the fifth consecutive year and serve as the signature kickoff event of Super Bowl week.

The Pro Bowl players were determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counted one-third toward determining the 86 Pro Bowl selections announced today. Two additional “need” players will be chosen by each head coach and must be long snappers. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. In 1995, the NFL became the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting.

As part of the new format, players will be assigned to teams through the Pro Bowl Draft, which will air on Wednesday, January 22 on NFL Network (8:00 PM ET). Pro Football Hall of Famers JERRY RICE and DEION SANDERS will serve as alumni team captains for their Pro Bowl squads – Team Rice and Team Sanders – and have final say over draft decisions. The NFL legends will each be assisted by two active player captains and one NFL.com fantasy football champion in the draft process.